Maryland men's basketball coach Mark Turgeon said Tuesday that "there's a good chance" freshman point guard Roddy Peters will start Friday against Marist in the opening round of the Paradise Jam tournament in the Virgin Islands.

Peters had his best game since coming to College Park in Sunday's 90-83 loss at home to Oregon State, finishing with 10 points and six assists (only two turnovers) in 25 minutes. Peters was instrumental in helping Maryland cut a 12-point deficit to 2 before the Beavers pulled away.

"He was pretty good, in a pretty big environment, I thought he handled it great," Turgeon said.

Asked after practice Tuesday whether he has given thought to starting Peters, Turgeon said, "I've given it a lot of thought of starting Roddy. He's got to get better defensively. Everyone's telling him how well he played, but there's two ends to the floor.

"It's not like football, where you could play certain guys on one side. We'd be pretty good if we could do that. The old 3-on-3 Iowa girls basketball. There's a good chance [he starts]. I think it helps Dez [Wells]. I think it helps our team."

Turgeon wouldn't say whom Peters would replace in the starting lineup or whether there would be other changes. Peters could replace junior Nick Faust (City) on the wing, or Turgeon could have junior forward Evan Smotrycz, one of the team's best shooters but something of a defensive liability against quicker teams, come off the bench.

"I don't think it will matter," Peters said of the possibility of starting. "Wherever coach will play me, I'm going to play. I don't think it would really make a difference."